Virtual Tourism Observatory

The European Commission's Virtual Tourism Observatory (VTO) aims to support policy makers and businesses develop better strategies for a more competitive European tourism sector.
The Virtual Tourism Observatory provides access to a broad collection of information, data and analysis on current trends in the tourism sector. It includes the latest available figures on the sector's trends and volumes, economic and environmental impact, and the origin and profile of tourists.

Demand

Change (p.y.%) and number of arrivals and nights spent at tourist accommodation establishments

Select a country

Change (p.y.%) or Number

Nights spent or Arrivals

Year

Occupancy

Net occupancy rate of bed places in hotels and similar accommodation .

Year

Seasonality

Distribution of nights spent at tourist accommodation establishments (Gini index)The Gini index measures the extent to which the distribution of nights deviates from a perfectlyequal distribution (degree of seasonality). A Gini index of 0 represents perfect equality(no seasonality), while an index of 100 implies perfect inequality (high seasonality).

Expenditure by expenditure categories

Thousand euro

Select a country

Year

Employment

Employed persons by NACE Rev. 2 activity in the EU28

Unit

Year

Regional data

Nights spent at tourist accommodation establishments by region.Net occupancy rate of bed-places in hotels and similar accommodation by region.

Unit

Main source markets

Arrivals at tourist accommodation establishments (number and change from previous year) and expenditure in travel services of tourists from non-EU countries to the EU28

Data source: EUROSTAT.

The Observatory consists of five sections:

Country Profiles

The country profiles offer a snapshot view of key tourism indicators for the European Union and each of its member countries. A user-friendly interface allows the user to personalise the analysis, benchmark two or more countries, and download economic indicators and tourism data.

Tourism statistics illustrated

Statistics Illustrated is a powerful visualisation tool that displays monthly and annual data on tourist flows, accommodation capacity, occupancy, expenditure and other data on the trips of EU residents. The tool lets the user visualise data as maps, tables or graphs. The dynamic dashboards help users in the comparative analysis and evaluation of tourism trends. This tool has been developed by the Directorate-General (DG) for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs, and Eurostat.

Eurobarometer surveys

The European Union is a major source market for destinations as many Europeans travel in the EU and worldwide. Flash Eurobarometersurveys reveal preferences and attitudes of Europeans towards tourism. The Eurobarometer surveys offer a portrait of the current situation and the outlook for the upcoming year.

Studies and Reports

The Observatory is also a repository for reports, studies and papers relevant for tourism policy makers and businesses. A user-friendly tool allows users to search the extensive library by country, theme or year of publication. This section offers access to all relevant publications of DG Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs, and the Commission, as well as to a wide range of works published by other institutions, international organisations, member states and academia.